


Rather Me Instead of You

by thatmartiangirl



Category: Ghost - Mystery Skulls (Music Video), Mystery Skulls (Band)
Genre: Alive!Lewis, Angst, Arthur dies instead au, Gen, ghost!arthur
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-04 09:34:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6652540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatmartiangirl/pseuds/thatmartiangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That night in the cave, Arthur was possessed and half his body was out of his control. With the remaining control he had, he managed to save Lewis, but at the cost of falling off the cliff himself<br/>Arthur's spirit lingers, unable to pass on since his soul is now bound to the one that possessed him, but he still tries his hardest to protect those that he cares about</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Grief

            Lewis clenched his teeth as slid to the ground at the mouth of he cave. He wanted to wake up. There was no way this was happening. There was no way his friend was- no he couldn’t even think it.

            Vivi stood nearby, but wasn’t in any better state, bracing herself against the wall as her legs threatened to give way. It was her idea to check out the cave in the first place. As flashing lights lit the night, tears rolled down her cheeks. This was her fault. If not for her, none of them would even be near that cave.

            The police had wanted to question them. Vivi cried as she spoke, and Lewis gave short answers, not trusting his own voice. It made them feel sick as the realization that they were never ever going to see their friend again finally settled in.

            Once back in the van, Lewis slammed his fists into the sides of the steering wheel, but Vivi grabbed his shoulder.

            “Don’t! Don’t take it out on the van.”

            She didn’t need to say anymore, and realization grew in his eyes. Arthur poured his soul into his work, especially on the van, so it had become one of the limited things they had left of him.

            It was then that Lewis broke. Burying his head in his arms on the stirring wheel, he let out a small whine. A hand touched his back, and suddenly he was being embraced by Vivi.

            After several moments of silence, Lewis finally spoke. “S-something was bothering him recently. I wish I knew what it was. Maybe…maybe then I could have helped him. If I had maybe then…he wouldn’t have…wouldn’t have jum- fallen. He wouldn’t have fallen.”

            “It’s my fault too. I just assumed that he would talk to us if he needed to. It was my idea to go into the cave.”

            After a few more moments, Lewis started the car.

            The rest of the ride back was done in somber silence.

 

            Telling Arthur’s uncle was the hardest part. The seemingly unbreakable man fell to the ground, shaking with sobs. Arthur was like a son to him, and his only family left. Lewis and Vivi weren’t in any better state, and began to sob with him. Mystery howled in pain.

            Lance offered to let them stay the night, a mutual comfort sort of thing, which they greatly accepted. Vivi took the couch and Lewis took the floor next to Mystery. None of them dared walk into Arthur’s now deserted room; they didn’t think they could take it. Gallaham wandered out in search of food, his mouth filled with some of the nuts and bolts that must have been scattered around Arthur’s work desk. He seemed confused about the company, and after Lance feed him, stood in front of the door, eagerly waiting for something.

            That night, Lewis and Vivi’s sleep was plagued with nightmares of Arthur’s body, pierced by stalagmites and bleeding out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I got really sucked into this fandom lately, and I especially love Arthur. What better way to show your love to your favorite character than to kill them in writing haha


	2. The Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur awakens to pitch blackness and cries out for his friends. Lewis recalls the past and wishes to see his friend once more

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad people are enjoying this! Here's chapter 2!

            Dark.

            He wasn’t sure where he was and what was going on, but the world was definitely dark.

            Arthur went to inhale, but then realized he couldn’t. Panic spread. How was he going to breathe? He didn’t want to die! “LEWIS” he attempted to cry, but there was no sound.

            Oh yeah…he was already dead, wasn’t he.

            Suddenly with that revelation, the world around him revealed itself. A green mist oozed around him, creating a haze, but he could still see the stalagmites beneath him and the cave walls rising above him. He always _knew_ that investigating ghosts was going to get them killed someday.

            Them. Oh please not them!

            “LEWIS!” he shouted, this time hearing his extremely distorted voice pierce the air, “VIVI!”

            Nothing answered, but he was horrified at the sound that had come out of his mouth.

            “Is that my voice?! What the hell!”

            He decided to ignore the voice problem in favor of focusing on Vivi and Lewis. How long had passed? Were they still in the cave? Are they okay? Oh shit, are they even alive?! All he remembered was his body trying to push Lewis off the cliff, and they trying to stop that by jumping off the cliff himself. Was he in time? Or did he push Lewis as well? What possessed him anyways, and where was it now?

            “I can answer that last one,” a voice said right in his ear.

            “Huh?! Who’s there?”

            “So many questions,” the voice continued. It actually sounded like the voice was coming from inside his own head, “You think too loud.”

            “I s-swear, you b-better answer me!” Arthur’s voice trembled, and the distortion softened, leaving his voice sounded more human.

            “Oh does the coward want to fight?”

            “WHO ARE YOU?”

            Suddenly, Arthur’s ghostly arm turned green and the hand found it’s way to his throat and clenched it.

            “Do you remember me now?” the voice asked.

            Arthur screamed.

 

            Lewis woke early that morning, the clock on the kitchen wall reading 4:57. He couldn’t fall back asleep and just continued lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling. In his dream, he had remembered a close call from ages ago, shortly after the three had become a paranormal investigation group.

            Arthur had been cornered by a vengeful ghost wielding a long sword. He had nowhere to run and was facing certain death. Luckily that time they had been able to save Arthur. That time Arthur had survived.

            But on the drive home, after Arthur had calmed down he told them, “I swear if this ghost investigation thing gets me killed you can be sure I’m coming back to haunt your asses!”

            Lewis sat up and hugged his knees. Would Arthur come back to haunt them? If he did, would he be one of those angry, vengeful ghosts, or would he be the same guy? Regardless, Lewis hoped he would get the chance to apologize to Arthur. He should have realized that Arthur was hurting long before he had seen the pained expression of Arthur’s face as he jumped to his death.

            “Viv?” Lewis said, hoping that she was also awake. She wasn’t.

            Mystery sat up and started nuzzling Lewis, who began to cry.

            “I just wish I could see him again.”


	3. Not Moving On, But Heading Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay guys! I've been working on my finals, but here's the new chapter!

            It had been a week since the…incident.

            The funeral had been quiet. Arthur didn’t have very much family aside from Lance, and other than that, the only ones in attendance were Vivi, Lewis, the Peppers, and a couple people who had known Arthur from “around.” There was too much to say, but no words to describe it. The entire atmosphere was suffocating.

            And now Lewis was staring at the ceiling. He was lying on the couch in his family’s home above the restaurant, Vivi beside him sitting on the floor. They had been sitting in uncomfortable silence for the last hour. Vivi sighed, as if she wanted to say something, for the fifth time since they had arrived at his place. Finally Lewis decided to speak up.

            “Do you…do you think that Arty might have…you know…” he trailed off, unsure of how to approach the subject. Vivi looked at him intently, so he took a deep breath before continuing, “Might have come back as a ghost?”

            Vivi froze, processing the statement that had just come out of Lewis’s mouth. Her eyes then suddenly darted to the van’s keys on the kitchen table. The thought had been weighing on her mind too, for the entire week, but she had been too afraid to mention it. They both went back to sitting in silence as they stared at each other, realizing that they were both on the same page.

            Two pairs of eyes turned to stare again at the van keys. While they both were thinking the same thing, neither of them wanted to be the one to say it. Neither wanted to say that they hoped they could find Arthur.

            Because if ghost investigating had taught them one thing, it was that ghosts remaining on Earth remained because of their suffering, and their precious Arthur did not deserve that. Nothing he did would _ever_ make him deserve that.

            That only meant that Vivi and Lewis, being the friends that they were, would have to make absolutely certain that he wasn’t out there, suffering somewhere, all alone. They would never forgive themselves for letting him suffer.

            “We have to find him,” Vivi said, “Either that or confirm he’s not lingering here. If he’s suffering we have to help!”

            Lewis didn’t need to hear that twice, and within two minutes they had grabbed Mystery and were heading…

            “Lewis…where are we going?” Vivi asked as they sped past the on ramp to the freeway, “I thought we were going to the cave?”

            “We’re taking the back roads,” Lewis said, “More chances of running into a spirit on those than on the freeway.”

            Vivi’s eyes lit up for the first time in a week, “Then if we find one we can question it about Arthur! That’s genius!”

            Lewis smiled, but it didn’t quite hit his eyes, as the trio sped along through the dark.

 

            Arthur was finally starting to get the hang of this ghost thing. In the beginning, it was hard to do anything, like making his presence known to the alive; he wasn’t able to touch things and he remained invisible. Now he could phase in and move things with some effort, though he still had extreme problems on one front.

            Even as a ghost he was being possessed by the menacing green demon.

            It had been more difficult at first. Arthur had no way to fight back, so he had to just watch as his left arm strangled him over and over again. Luckily the demon was only able to possess his arm and part of his face, otherwise it’d be much worse. Now that Arthur was getting used to this ghost thing, he could hold down the demon arm with his good arm, but it was still draining every time he was taken over.

            He was so tired.

            At first he had wondered why the demon even still bothered with him. He was _DEAD_ after all. What more could the demon even take? He sure was making his afterlife miserable, but aside from that? It wasn’t until he demon, whose voice rang in his head, pestered him to move on from this plain.

            He wasn’t going to do that until he knew for sure that Vivi and Lewis were ok. He had to make sure they had both gotten out of the cave unharmed! He was never going to be able to move forward unless he was able to make absolutely certain of that fact.

            After all, he couldn’t remember if he was able to stop himself from pushing Lewis in time. Oh god! If he hadn’t jumped in time, that would mean Vivi was all alone! He had to know! He had to check! Lewis!

            It had been five days since his death when he found out that since he had died while the demon possessed him, the demon was tied to his spirit until he moved on. As long as he was on this plain of existence, the demon was not able to leave him to possess another. The demon was unable to finish off the remaining Mystery Skulls.

            So it looks like he now has yet another reason to stay.

 

            He wasn’t quite sure how he ended up there, but Arthur was sure glad when he had found the home for restless spirits. They were going to be able to teach him ghost skills, and in the one day he had been there he had improved more than he had the entire week! In life he had been especially good with machines, working as the team’s mechanic, as well as one in his uncle’s shop, so it came as no surprise when he was naturally good at affecting them in death.

            It definitely helped him feel like he fit in more. At first, it had been awkward since a couple of the ghosts remembering him from his profession as a paranormal investigator, but they slowly became more accustomed to him, even if they made plenty of jabs about how he should be covering in fear from himself now.

            “Har har very funny,” he said after the umpteenth time. The ghosts surrounding him snickered yet again, causing Arthur smile while giving a little huff. At least he wasn’t alone anymore. Those few days he had spent alone in the cave with nothing but a demon for company were complete hell.

            “I sense a group,” a younger ghost piped up, glancing out the window to the road before the large building.

            Arthur sensed something familiar about the company, but couldn’t see anything but movement. He knew they were driving in a vehicle though, and with his new ghostly skills easily shut it down.

            He was curious.

 

            The remaining Mystery Skulls were on a particularly dark stretch of road when the car’s dash started getting wonky. The engine let out a whine as it came to a slow stop.

            “Oh please don’t break,” Lewis pleaded, “We don’t have Arty to fix you anymore. Please don’t!”

            His attempted were fruitless as the car stopped entirely right in front of a giant mansion, which let off an orange glow.

            “Maybe they can help call us a cab!” Vivi suggested as she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door.

            “I don’t know about a cab Viv,” Lewis began, “This place looks haunted…”

            “Even better!” she smiled, stepping out of the van and beginning to approach the place.

            She was determined to find her friend, no matter what.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow I got really sucked into this fandom lately, and I especially love Arthur. What better way to show your love to your favorite character than to kill them in writing haha


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